_{This is a story of my quest as the forsaken Lifeform from the shadows.}

 _{I traverse the worlds to reliquish my breadthren from the curse that has befallen me.} 

_{I, a traitor of my own master, have finally freed myself from his chains of misery.}

_{My last contractor, the binder of my soul, had perished by my own trachery. And so, with his last breath, a curse he had placed-}

 _{with rage he said: "Curse thee, foul creature!! A traitor of your own father!! A Heretic of our tribe.. You shall face your own deceit in what you call.. yo...ur.. freedom.. your kind shall suffer.. like your rotting loyalty, they shall become..! for you.. have.. forsaken me!"}

_{Thus, a fate that will slaughter generation after generation of our breadthren has been heralded.} 

_{To face an eternal discontent and hunger for freedom, to suffer deterioration of flesh and bone, and the insufferable deprivation of death.}

 

_{Having the will to save my breadthren from the same fate, i tried taking my own life- yet, it seems that i was also cursed to be immune to physical harm. I am somewhat human, yet also not. I stay alive, cursing the wretched being i have become. Alive, yet dead in existence.}

_{Unchained, but never free..}

~O~O~O~O~O~O~

Former High Apprentice: Tapphen Fenris Alexis, of the Shadow Orden- now Mhikael Mhilael.

I now quest the lands with my lore of possesing spirits, a power i have recently acquired. Studying the lore of magic my master have once used, and using bits of his cursed magic for my own.

 While in journey, I dreamed of a towering gate- and from there, comes a mysterious aura of serenity.

 What remains of my soul tells me to seek whats beyond. I move closer, and as the gates opened.. a blinding light greeted my figure. There stood a towering statue, amidst the growing grass of the marble park. The enticing sound that was heard before was like a distant memory now. Everything was in shambles. Except the statue of the little girl, engraced with sunlight. 

Fear got the best of me- feeling the overwhelming power that i couldn't comprehend coming from the statue, i tried to run away. But before i can glide away from lands, a small voice called to me- " You are my only hope..".

I observe the statue, and waited for what happened. I waited for the little girl to speak again, but what came was a blinding fog and mist.

I hear footsteps of numerous numbers. Bewildered by the unseen, i armed myself of my minions.

Slowly, the enticing music started to come back. The fog cleared bit-by-bit, and now showed the once battered remains of the park into a carnival. Eyes of unexplained emptiness stared into my figure. All smiling, yet without any feeling of the aura of life. 

I retreat from the scene and phased through the gates.

 And so, here.. is where my journey begins-  A new meaning to my Existence.

I look up the towering gates- there stands the words, engraved in gold, 

~O~O~O~O~O~O~

 

"Welcome to Marind Bell, The Marble Dale Park"

 

 

Chapter 1: The Hunted

 

My fallen Master, Axel Darcleave.

(Yes, it's Axe / Mogul Khan from DOTA All-Stars. Credits go to "Icefrog" for the idea of this character.)

After being freed from my master, i established my own empire. I conquered different sects of lores in search of ways to free me of the curse. Hundreds of establishments and lives have been ravaged for clues, yet none was found.

But one day, as I sat on my throne waiting for mt minions to return, i felt a strange aura closing our fort. I could hear the sounds growing closer, horrible and terrifying. Suddenly, the chamber doors of blew open, as if a gust of wind had forced them apart. I studied the portal intently, but could see nothing, save a wavering in the air. Two of my elite guards rushed forth to protect their king. As they advanced toward the unseen foe, a great force took hold of them one after the other, slamming their broken bodies into the walls. Their corpses were absolutely crushed of life. As my third warrior positioned himself between the Creature and myself, the shifting form coalesced from the ether into a dark figure, skeletal in appearance.

Left :

The First Apprentice of my Grand knight, 

Erik Von Berkenstel

Right:

The next candidate to be the new grand Knight,

Shinjo Kamakura

With a word of power, flames of hellfire began to dance upon the Creature's frame. Pointing at my final guardian, a fine and deadly mist emanated from the earth. With a muffled scream, the guard fell dead in a collapsed heap, while the Creature seemed stronger. As the Creature advanced, I stood proudly and held my battleaxe aloft, ready to strike.

And "The Last Grand Knight" of the Soul Seers Bloodline, my brother-

Tomohisa Alta Lacrosse

(that cross he wears on his neck, is what i had in my robe in the drawing in the introduction)

Gathering my full anger, I began a downward stroke towards my enemy, when suddenly I was overcome with a sense of peace. I could no more strike the Creature than I could harm my most trusted companion. With a wave of a skeletal talon, a shining blade rushed through the doorway. The last vision I had in life was that of a shadowy smile crossing the face of the Creature -

The curse begins its haunting. The undead have come for me.

~O~O~O~O~O~

 

Chapter 2: Awakening

 

I woke up from the excrutiating pain of my soul being torn apart and detached from my body. At that moment, nothing else matters. i just want the pain to go away. Vague flashes of memory that reminded me of the "reaping" that my bredthren have suffered.

The pain suddenly stops and i think to myself the meaning of it all- The pain of death. The life of death. The order of dying. The chaos of living

What does it mean to be alive? Where do we know when life has graciously left its last breath within us? As my thoughts grasp a misty reality they begin to slip away again. An irony I long to know. I yearn to live but fear of becoming enveloped in all that I seek has twisted my soul into a doom of fate. In a world, from a time that existed only in my deepest memories, I lived an innocent life. My father. He suffered history, he understood time, he knew life...

I will never know. The tragedy led us all to our separate destinies and I now live isolated. Heed these words. For I will never know what brings us so close to the edge. I am Mhilael. Soulseeker. Deathbringer and Lifegiver. I know no life except that of my own and my brethren. I survive precariously on the knowledge that someday I will know what parts immortality from the thread of existence in this vile world. My tale I tell you not with words of courage nor heroism but survival and great cost. For there lies a fine line between life and death and it lies enshrouded in shadows...

The blackness of the terrible force with which I awoke stirred my unconscious thoughts out of their reverie. The hood that covered my face drew closer as I tugged at myself quietly and rose from the outcropping of rock. The hills were silent as I padded from my small shelter and out into the twilight. I neared the fortress gates and summoned my follower close. My lips parted to form an ancient tongue. Long ago and forgotten words to all but a few who's ways tap into the nether world. Death some call it. Others call it necromancy. I call it survival. My body wavered from one plane to the next and a scarlet hue of light took hold of me. I made myself known to him who was standing watch over the citadel by whispering quietly in the air. A dark chill ran down his face as my black thoughts took hold of him. Painful waves of fear, mindful thoughts of dying, all my visions of psionic power became one with him. I converged on the essence of ecstasy and some terrible eagerness seeped through my blood, as I took his life. He began to convulse with spasms as death became evident. I held fast, seared his eyes with streaks of blinding light and finished him off with a crushing intensity that ended his very existence. I looked again at the decaying, infested corpse, pulled the roots from my maroon pouch and began my intonation. My voice resonated as I chanted carefully the sacred words of my ancestors. In the placid solitude, with the air chill on my back, time seemed to stand still. I took the carefully preserved bundle under my arm and began my way into the dismal gates to my next victim.

The first victim to my curse- a former servant of our household, and dearly beloved friend, Riysuko (whoever remembers him shall have my will).

~O~O~O~O~O~

 

Final Chapter : Recollection

 

Controlled by my Recollections of the "Reaping", i now face the mountains of carcasses that the darkness within me had done. Shortly amidst my confusion, i gradually earned knowledge of my abilities, and what i've done. From somewhere i can't reach, someone is watching me..

But what have I become?
Spectral arms reach out to me
Bearing me away

Tortured, haunting dreams
The calling of a dead mind
I wake in cold sweat

Scratching at my door
I hear deep breathing outside every night
And slowly, the lock turns

Walking through the woods
I hear Them call far away
And begin to run

I no longer live-
Long ago I shut my eyes
to our dying world

As I write these words
My best friend lies cold and dead.
"Stay out of the house!"

High and lonely house
It's owner beholds the sea
And shivers strangely

Terrifying dreams
Visions of some evil shape
I do not wake up

Constellations swirl
Soon we'll be but stories

To children not our own

Seductress of all
The darkness now beckons me
Calling me back home-

"Climb through the window
Follow me to sleeping flesh
Hold your razor tight"

I gaze at the tome,
Learning all there is to know-
My mind fades away

Death embraces me
Tenderly it strokes my hair
Eating me alive

Man no longer rules.
Forced to fight for scraps of food
Earth's new owners laugh

Now I must depart
May you live long and calmly.
Darkness comes for me-

I am Mhikael Mhilael, the Soul Seeker

~O~O~O~O~O~O